The fight for the overall title in the International GT Open is still open and will be decided in the final race of the season tomorrow in Barcelona.
Race 1 was won by the guesting GetSpeed Performance AMG GT3 of Al Faisal Al Zubair and Fabian Schiller, who took the pole and dominated the race despite the 10-second handicap for first appearance in the closing round.
They beat the Dinamic Motorsport Porsche 911R of Riccardo Cazzaniga-Klaus Bachler with the Oregon Team Lamborghini of Benja Hites-Leo Pulcini third.
The championship leaders then took a little step forward, as their most direct rivals, Nick Moss-Joe Osborne (Optimum Motorsport McLaren) finished fifth. They are now separated by only 5 points.
Cut from the final fight is the other Oregon pair, Kevin Gilardoni-Glenn Van Berlo, as they finished ninth after getting a 5-second penalty for a contact and can no longer mathematically the the Championship.
Very close to the Pro-Am title, after their win, today, are Marcin Jedlinski-Karol Basz, the Olimp Racing Audi pairing now only one point away from mathematical certainty. On their side, Alex Hrachowina-Martin Konrad Mann Filter Team Landgraf – Mercedes) boosted their Am champion status with a seventh seasonal win.
At the start, Schiller kept the advantage ahead of Pulcini as Osborne jumped to third ahead of Rueda, Baud, Mettler, Cazzaniga and Blom. Benyahia cut the chicane while on lap 2, Bohn went into the gravel in turn 10, prompting the safety car out. The Porsche had been pushed by Gilardoni, who was 14th but would get a 5-second penalty.
After the restart, on lap 5, positions remained unchanged at the top, with Schiller taking a 4-second advantage on Pulcini and 5 on Osborne, with Rueda and Baud close behind and Gilardoni in P11.
The safety car was scrambled at the end of lap 10, as Cipriani hit Cuhadaroglu sending the Ferrari into the gravel. Two laps later, the race was restarted, with M.Jedlinski going wide in the gravel, dropping to P21, Scholze spun and Juffali also made an off-track excursion.
The pit stop window opened on lap 14, with Cuhadaroglu the first to hand over. On lap 18, Basz passed Christodoulou, who shortly after had some contact with the Audi, while Hofer sent Cipriani into a spin.
On lap 19, the three title contenders found themselves fighting, with the Porsche of Bachler in the same group. Van Berlo spun as he tried to pass Moss. Two laps later, it was Jans attacking Gilbert, getting in contact and spinning.
After all stops, Al Zubair led by 7 seconds on Bachler, 9 on Hites and 11 on Moss. Then came Rugolo, first in Pro-Am, Van Berlo, Basz and Nana, first in Am. The fight was particularly intense between Rugolo and Basz for P1 in Po-Am, with the Pole passing in lap 27. The Get Speed Mercedes of Nana got a 40-second penalty for not having served the entire handicap.
The final battle for fourth was very intense, with Basz emerging after having passed Van Berlo and Moss, with the Dutchman dropping to P9, behind also Rugolo, Guerra and Christodoulou, after adding the 5-second penalty to its time. Konrad won in Am ahead of Korzeniowski and Sager.
